The use of gloves by athletes to protect their hands while at the same time improving their performance has become commonplace. This is particularly true in sports which require the athlete to grip a hitting device such as a bat, racquet, mallet, stick or the like as well as sports or games which require the athlete to catch something with their hand(s).
Unfortunately, most gloves are extremely specialized and serve only limited purposes. For example, in baseball the persons in the field wear bulky oversized mitts while those who are batting often wear thin, tight-fitting gloves to enhance their grip on the bat.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose athletic glove which will fit snugly on the hand while at the same time providing protection to the hand against stress, pain and/or injury. Moreover, a related object is to eliminate any fear or anxiety in the mind of the athlete so that better concentration can be accomplished without interfering with the gripping and flexing capabilities of the thumb and fingers as well as the entire hand itself.
Another object is to provide a laminated cushion for the palm of the hand which is part of the glove itself, and to extend a thickened portion of the cushion to at least partially cover the ball of the thumb, the heel of the hand, and the interdigital pads near the base of the fingers.
A related object is to provide an external cover member in the glove which completely covers the underside of the hand constitutes one layer of the laminated cushion, an internal cover member which directly contacts an underside portion of the hand, and a thickened layer therebetween which is sized and shaped to have its outer edges displaced from the basal creases of the thumb, fingers and wrist in order to avoid any interference with the flexing of the thumb, fingers and wrist during the athletic event.
A further object is to provide a multipurpose glove which can be used in different sporting events, thereby eliminated the need to have a separate glove to be used with each different sport. A more specific object is to provide a multipurpose glove which can be used by baseball players during batting, base running, and also inside the mitts during fielding.
These and other objects will be evident to those skilled in the art, and in view of the detailed disclosure of an exemplary embodiment of the invention as more fully set forth in the drawings and written description hereinafter.